Horse-releasing device.



PATENTED AUG. 30, 1904.

' E. A. BARNES.

' HORSE RELEASING DEVICE.

APPLIGATION FILED FEB. 15, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

N0 MODEL.

' Patented August 30, 190 1. I

PATENT OF CE.

EDMUND A. BARNES, BRYAN, IDAHO.

' HORSE-R'ELEASING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters I Eatent No. 768,578,11ated August30, 1904. Application filed February 15, 1904. serial-no. 193,717. (Nomodel.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDMUND A. BARNES, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Bryan,

in the county of Bingham and State'of Idaho,

have invented a new and useful Horse-Releasing Device. of which thefollowing is a speci-' fication. l

/ This invention has reference to devices for attachment to vehicleswhereby the horseor horses may be instantly released in event of theirbecoming fractious or running away or otherwise endangering the safetyof the occupants of the vehicle, and has for its object to improve theconstruction and provide a device which maybe applied to either a singleor double vehicle and without material change in the structure ofthesame.

With these and other objects in view, which will appear as the nature ofthe invention is betterunderstood, the same consists in certain novelfeatures of construction, as hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, andin which corresponding parts are denoted by like designating characters,is illustrated the preferred form of the embodiment of the inventionvcapable of carrying the same into practical operation, it beingunderstood that the invention is not necessarily limited thereto, asvarious changes in the shape, proportions, and

general assemblage of the parts may be resorted to without departingfrom the princispective detail illustrating a modified form of someportions of the structure. Figs' 1 and 5 are detail views illustratingthe device applied to a two-horse vehicle- In the improved device meansare provided for instantaneous and simultaneous release of the traces ortugs from the swingletrees and 'its communication to the vehicle.

'ed by the draft-animal.

of the thills from the holdback portion of the harness when attached tosingle vehicles, and when attached to double vehicles means are providedfor releasing the traces or tugs only, as the draft-tongue in doublevehicles being usually held from rearward movement only requires nospecial means for its release.

In the drawings the forward axle 10, a portion of the body 11, and thethills 1213, having the usual cross-bar 14 connecting them, are

shown in the usual construction except that the thills are shortened attheir free ends, the purpose to be hereinafter explained. 'Attached'centrally to the cross-bar 14 and retative thereon is a bearing 15 forthe swingletree 16,- the latter being rotative in the bearing as well asfree to swing horizontally to provide for absorbing the horse motionand'preventing I Attached to the thills 12 13, near the cross-bar 14,are small casings or housings 17 18, having'longitudinal slots 19 20intheir upper sides, the casings for slidably receiving clips 21 22,attached to'the .rear ends of the tugs or traces 23 24 of the harness,the clips being provided with spaced apertures, as at 25, to receivetheholding means. Attached to the ends of the whiffletree 16 andpartaking of its motion are arms 26 27,

extending over the casings 17 18. Pivoted upon the arms 26 27 are levers30 31, having pins 32 33 extending through the slots 19 20 and into theapertures in the clips 2122. At-

tached to the whifiietree 16 and the cross-bar 14: are springs 34 35,exerting their force to maintain the whiffletree yieldably in itsforward or operative position, with the pins 32 33 engaging the clips onthe traces. The levers30 31 are also independently spring-supported tomaintain them yielda'bly'in operative position. By this arrangement itwill be obvious that so long as the whifitletree is maintained'by thesprings 13 i 35-inits'forward position the traces will be'held fast inthe casings 17 18, but longitudinally movable therein within the rangeof ,theslots 19 20 to provide'for the usual horse motion-'exert- Then byrotating the whifiletree in its bearing 15 the arms 26 '27, with theirattached levers 30 31, will be elevated and detach the pins 32 33 fromthe traces and release them. If one of the tracesis to be independentlyreleased, it can be quickly accomplished by simply pressing down on thefree end of the lever 30 or 31, as the case may be, as will be obvious.By providing a plurality of the apertures in the clips it will beobvious that the traces may be lengthened and shortened, as required.

Means are provided for rotating the whiffietree from the drivers seat,which is constructed as follows: Projecting from the whifiletree 16 isan arm 36, and attached to the body portion 11 of the vehicle inconvenient position for the driver is a lever-arm 37 having 'aprojecting portion 38, connected by a flexible link, such as a chain 39,to the arm 36 on the whiffietree. A ratchet-plate 10 will be attached tothe floor of the vehicle where the lever-arm 37 passes through tosupport the same and enable it to be held at any desired point.

When employed upon single harness, means must be provided for releasingthe thills from the holdback portions of the harness, and in theimproved devices herein shown and described is illustrated an approvedmeans for accomplishing this result, consisting of casings 11, in whichthe free or forward ends of the thills 12 13 are detachably retained,the casings having loops 12 13 4A to receive the billets, respectively,of the back-band 15, girth 16, and holdback 47, the latter detachablyconnected to the breeching 18 by snaps 19 in the ordinary manner. Thecasings 41 are connected by snaps 50 to clips 51, which are in turnriveted or otherwise connected to the hame-tug portions of the harnessin advance of the girthand back-band portions or to the breast-collarportions, according as to which form of harness is employed. By thisarrangement it will be obvious that under normal conditions the horse isconnected to the vehicle and will draw the latter in the usual manner.If, however, occasion arises for the release of the horse in event, forinstance, of his becoming fractious or attempting to run away orotherwise jeopardizing the safety of the occupants of the vehicle, asimple push upon the lever 37 will cause the projection 38 to depressthe arm 36 through the connecting-chain 39, rotate the whiflietree 16,and elevate the arms 26 27 and release the traces, as before described,when the horse will be free to move forward and at the same time carrycasings 41 from the thills.

In Fig. 3 a modified construction of the means for rotating thewhifl'letree 16 is shown, consisting in 'a-bar 52, mounted for rotationin bearings 53 upon the thills 12 13 in the rear of the cross-bar 1 1and provided with a lateral arm 55, connected by the chain 39 to the arm36 on the whiffletree. A longer arm 57 extends from the bar 52, and fromthe free end of this longer arm a strap 58 extends to a point on thebody of the vehicle convenient to the driver. By this arrangement it isobvious that a simple pull on the straps 58 will cause the rotation ofthe bar 52 and the corresponding rotation of the whi-iiietree andrelease of the horse in the manner as by the mechanism heretoforedescribed.

When employed upon double vehicles, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 5, theslotted casings 17 18 will be attached to the swingletrees 59 60,swiveled upon the doubletrees 61, the latter in turn swiveled in theordinary manner to the draft-tongue 62. Mounted for rotation upon thedraft-tongue, as by bearings 63 in the rear of the doubletrees, is a bar61, similar to the bar 52 in the modification shown in Fig. 3 and havingsmall lateral arms 65 66 at its ends connected by chains 67 68 toprojections 69 70 on rods 71 72, mounted for rotation on theswingletrees 59 60, the rods having their ends 75 76 77 7S bent intostuds for engaging the apertures 25 in the trace-clips 21 22, as shownmore clearly in Fig. The bar 64: is provided with a relatively long arm73, from which a strap 74 leads to a point within reach of the driversseat. liy this means it is obvious that a simple pull upon the strap 73will release the horses simultaneous] y in the same manner as beforedescribed for the release of the single horse.

The various modifications herein illustrated may be employed withoutdeparting from the principle of the invention or sacrificing any of itsadvantages, as the same results are produced in all the modificationsand in substantially the same manner.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is- 1. In ahorse-releasing device, casings carried upon the vehicle for detachahl yreceiving the free ends of the traces and provided with longitudinalslots, catches engaging the traces through said slots, and meansoperative by the driver for releasing said catches.

2. In a horse-releasing device, casings carried upon the vehicle, thetraces having transverse apertures and slidable in said casings, catchesfor detachably engaging said apertures within the casings, and meansoperative by the driver for releasing said catches.

3. In a horse-releasing device, casings carried upon the vehicle, thetraces having a plurality of spaced transverse apertures and slidable insaid casings, catches for detachably engaging said apertures within thecasing and means operative by the driver for releasing said catches.

a. In a horse-releasing device, casings carried upon the vehicle fordetachal )ly receiving the free ends of the traces, catches engaging thetraces within the casings, receivers for the forward ends of the thillsand connected to the holdback portion of the harness, and means underthe control of the driver for releasing said catches.

5. Inahorse-releasing device, means for detachably coupling the tracesto the vehicle, means under the control of the driver for detaching saidcoupling means, receivers for the forward ends of the thills and havingmeans for connection to the harness, and connecting means between saidreceivers and the breech-- ing portions of the harness.

6. Ina horse-releasing device, means for detachably coupling the tracesto the vehicle, means under the control of the driver for'de-' tachingsaid coupling means, receivers for the forward ends of the thills andhaving loops for supporting straps for connecting respectively with theback-strap, girth and holdback portions of the harness and with meansfor connection with the traces in advance of the back-strapsand girth.

7. In a horse-releasing device, receivers for attachment to the thillsadjacent to the whiffletree, the traces having transverse apertures 1and slidable in said casings, the whifiletree mounted for rotation uponsaid thills and carrying catches for engagement within said casings withthe perforations in said traces, and means under the control of thedriver for rotating said whiflietree and releasing said catches.

8. In a horse-releasing device, receivers for the ends of the traces,the whifiietree carrying catches for engaging the traces in sa1d rece1vers, and means operative by the driver for actuating said catches forreleasing said traces.

' 9. In a horse-releasing device, receivers for the ends of the traces,the .whiffletree carrying catches for engaging the traces in saidreceiv-V ers, means for yieldably maintaining said whifiietree 1n 1tsforward position, and means under the control of the driver forrearwardly rotating said whifiietree to release said catches.

10. In a horse-releasing device, receivers for the ends of the traces,the wh-ifiietree carrying catches for engaging the traces in saidreceivers, springs disposed to hold said whiflietree with its catchesyieldably in engagement with said traces, and means under the control ofthe driver for reversely actuating said whiffietree

